Operational Data Management
- 1. W www.csgi.com Copyright © 2014 CSG Systems International, Inc. and/or its affiliates (“CSG”). All rights reserved. Solution Spotlight Operational Data Management for Utilities The Evolving Utility: Manageable Steps to Operational Efficiency Each year technology and industry pundits make a short list of the trends and challenges facing today’s utility. And it’s not surprising that some of the same challenges that have plagued other service‐ and transaction‐oriented industries made the most recent list, specifically: Evolving business models Regulatory changes Dynamic pricing Customer expectations Convergence of IT / OT Technology is dramatically changing the way utilities operate and the services provided. But change is costly; according to Energy Digital, utilities will spend $100 billion in capital investments over the next 18 years to replace power plants, implement new technologies and meet new regulatory requirements.1 And change is not achieved overnight. Instead, Utilities need to take the long view, taking manageable steps on the path to operational evolution. Evolution Not Revolution Data lies at the heart of conquering these challenges. In today’s data‐driven, customer‐focused world, insight and efficiencies must be delivered as soon as the data is available. There are a host of revolutionary new applications targeting these expectations within the utility domain. All of these applications, along with your traditional systems, require verifiable, reliable and relevant data from the power grid and communications network in order to be effective. Unfortunately, the promise of gaining actionable insight, business and operational efficiencies through grid modernization and the collection and enrichment of exceedingly large data volumes from meters and other devices, has gone largely unrealized to date. While some value has been realized, existing data management systems have faltered in the face of 1 http://www.energydigital.com/top10/1736/Top‐10‐Challenges‐Facing‐Utility‐ Companies‐in‐2014 architectural limitations and large‐scale, complex data. The first step to evolving the modern utility and unlocking the potential value for enterprise and operational efficiencies is satisfying the need for the right data, at the right time, in the right formats, to the right systems—a step you can take today with the right operational data management solution. Until now, the need for complex integrations and groupings of data sets to satisfy the requirements of disparate systems—new and established—posed one of the biggest challenges for Utilities. Now you can extract and deliver the data you need when you need it, where you need it, in the format you need—and with intelligent insights. CSG’s Operational Data Management (ODM) solution provides centralized access to all of the data from your systems. Operational Data Management A centralized operational data management system addresses the challenges Utilities face in gathering and utilizing enhanced insight. An ODM solution allows data from disparate systems to be collected, managed and distributed correctly to provide actionable intelligence on the stability and resiliency of the power grid, renewable and distributed energy resources, regulatory compliance and customer experience. While your network and system silos may still exist, the data from these systems can be used appropriately throughout your operations. More importantly, this data becomes more powerful due to the correlation and enrichments provided by an ODM solution.
- 2. W www.csgi.com Copyright © 2014 CSG Systems International, Inc. and/or its affiliates (“CSG”). All rights reserved. The Value of ODM Operational, business and command and control systems across the utility infrastructure were architected to produce, deliver and consume data in a singular format via a singular system or user. However, as grid modernization evolves and IT and OT converge, upstream systems require specific subsets of data integrated from multiple downstream systems (e.g. AMI and/or SCADA) or vice‐versa. ODM is a platform that connects upstream and downstream systems to enhance and extend their value today and in the future. Acquires real‐time or time‐delayed data from any and all of the disparate systems across the energy and communication networks. Enables the business intelligence to validate, analyze, correlate, aggregate, filter and transform the data across the various, disparate data streams. Provides the framework to deliver automated, human‐in‐the‐loop and closed loop business and operational processes. Delivers the right data set to the right system and users, in the right format at the right time. Is fully auditable and measurable based on user and enterprise needs to meet internal or regulatory reporting requirements. ODM provides access to and insights from all your data streams. It enables the aggregation and correlation of data with variable latency and quality at any point in the generation, transmission or distribution networks. It enforces the business and operational logic and workflows required to respond to data‐driven alarms and events—with automated, human in the loop or ad hoc response options. ODM provides the framework to deliver data sets, key insights, and responses relevant to day‐to‐day operations. A Single Platform—Many Uses A centralized Operational Data Management solution provides a single platform that streamlines processing, increases efficiency, lowers costs, and speeds time‐to‐ action. It supports multiple use cases from a single platform and establishes the foundation for future system, network and service evolution. A centralized ODM lets you: Aggregate AMI, SCADA and Telemetry data for billing, operations, generation, etc Optimize DER management, grid operations and planning Automate the collection, correlation and transformation of your engineering analysis data Automate (human‐in‐the‐loop and closed‐loop) workflows and play books to enhance the productivity of operations personnel For example, AMI management is impacted by the deluge of data smart meters are producing. Each meter is a sensor capable of collecting multiple data points providing state information about energy delivered to the service delivery point. There are multiple organizations within the utility’s operations interested in different aspects of the data collected by the meters across the network. With the highly scalable ODM solution, data is captured from the AMI system, the quality of the data is validated, and then enhanced with metadata, filtered based on the different organizational or application need, formatted appropriately, and finally distributed to the right organization or application. This is just a single use case for how an ODM solution can benefit your operations. There are many more which address a utilities most pressing challenges and put your organization on the evolving utility path. Talk to us today to find out how CSG ODM can help you streamline your operations and speed time-to-action.